employment

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Jobs That Count

Written By: - Date published: 12:00 pm, December 17th, 2014 - 20 comments

The Meatworkers Union today launch a campaign for Jobs That Count – to try to get better conditions for these marginalised workers who face it all – seasonal work, dangerous jobs, casual and zero hours contracts and anti-union pressure.

rising poverty amongst asians

Written By: - Date published: 11:04 pm, December 9th, 2014 - 85 comments

a new report shows that poverty related illnesses are growing at a rapid rate for asian children, and so are other poverty indicators.  some of this is related to a more settled population, but we also need to talk about racism.

The future of work, income

Written By: - Date published: 9:22 am, November 1st, 2014 - 188 comments

Automation is changing everything – faster than we think…

Collective bargaining? Yeah right …

Written By: - Date published: 10:30 am, October 26th, 2014 - 11 comments

JAmooches continues their analysis of the effects of the Employment Relations Amendment Bill. Today the focus is on the provisions that negate the requirement for the parties to act in good faith bargaining, in particular for being able to conclude collective agreements.

Boots Theory: Numbers are meaningless when families are living in cars

Written By: - Date published: 10:59 am, October 5th, 2014 - 137 comments

There’s something obscene about the way the economic story gets framed: the figures on a page, the points on an index, the number of dollars someone can swap for a number of different-coloured dollars, when people are suffering.

NZ Inc

Written By: - Date published: 10:31 am, September 14th, 2014 - 119 comments

David Cunliffe has announced his final big policy. It’s called NZ Inc and it’s a bloody smart move.

The only way National know to grow the economy

Written By: - Date published: 5:15 pm, September 10th, 2014 - 19 comments

On Firstline this morning, John Key tried to compare National’s and Labour’s policies by saying “You can’t grow the economy when you restrict labour laws.” It’s nonsense, and it’s scary.

NRT: 32,000 out of work under National

Written By: - Date published: 3:21 pm, August 6th, 2014 - 54 comments

The latest Household Labour Force Survey was released today, showing a drop in unemployment. But while its an improvement, there is far less employment than when National came into office 5 years ago. That is a monumental fail.

Counting the cost – long time dying

Written By: - Date published: 8:00 am, August 6th, 2014 - 54 comments

How much longer do we have to live with this”neoliberal” nightmare?   It should have died with the global financial crisis, caused by the unfettered greed of the banksters & socially callous.  “Paying the Price” on Al Jazeera; AAAP Mangere Action Impact this week.

Positive Policy on Youth Employment

Written By: - Date published: 6:09 pm, August 4th, 2014 - 8 comments

Other than fixing child poverty, there’s probably no more important policy than this. Labour will commit $183 million to a comprehensive Youth Employment Package designed to reach 24,000 young New Zealanders.

Hang onto our land – it’s all we’ve got left

Written By: - Date published: 8:22 pm, August 2nd, 2014 - 77 comments

Steven Joyce says Labour’s opposition to the sale of 13,800ha Lochinver station to Shanghai Pengxin is based on “xenophobia.” It’s not, its basic economic sense. The benefit from our land should stay here. And Joyce’s open door has seen rail wagons bought cheap and fixed dear by Chinese workers at the expense of good local jobs and crucial Kiwi skills. Labour is simply standing up for New Zealand. It’s the right thing to do.

Labour – Raise the minimum wage

Written By: - Date published: 4:05 pm, August 1st, 2014 - 298 comments

Labour is promising to raise the minimum wage to $16.25. It’s the right thing to do. And it doesn’t cost jobs.

Wages up – Work secure – Labour policy

Written By: - Date published: 1:03 pm, July 30th, 2014 - 165 comments

Labour has today released its Work and Wages policy. An immediate lift to $15 in the minimum wage, and a raise to $16.25 in April next year. 90 day free sacking option for employers to go in first 100 days. Core public service to get the Living Wage first, others to follow. That’ll put some money where it’s most needed.

Local Bodies: Pay Equity, Rod Donald Was Right in 2004

Written By: - Date published: 1:44 pm, June 28th, 2014 - 3 comments

In 2004 Green Party Co-Leader Rod Donald made a speech about the Public Finance (State Sector Management) Bill. Ten years later the State Sector is still not an equitable employer. Pakeha men have done considerably better over the ten years than any other demographic and this is despite the fact that for many years now females have been out performing males academically. Women still earn less relative to their qualifications than men. There is some hope that a future Green/Labour coalition may finally address the issue.

Imperator Fish: ACT’s new employment relations policy

Written By: - Date published: 8:30 am, June 13th, 2014 - 20 comments

The ACT Party today released its employment relations policy, which focuses on providing both employees and employers with flexibility in how they arrange their workplaces. “People may think they know how slavery works, but do they really? It’s an idea that has had some bad publicity over the years, but only because the right model hasn’t been tried. We believe we have developed the right model. A model that gives employees genuine choice about whether or not to become slaves.”

National’s mouthpiece on manufacturing doesn’t like details

Written By: - Date published: 2:10 pm, June 12th, 2014 - 116 comments

David Farrar in his usual burst of hypocrisy and curious selectiveness about detailed numbers is proclaiming a headline rise in manufacturing. As is usual he is only interested in the top level numbers and doesn’t provide a link to even the summary data. I guess that is because they are rather depressing for his 9th floor of the Beehive view of employment and wage packets, which is what most voters expect from growth. There has been a slight decline in manufacturing jobs while we have a 11% growth in “manufacturing”.

NRT: “A wish, a target, and a dream”

Written By: - Date published: 6:47 pm, May 12th, 2014 - 58 comments

No Right Turn shows that John Key has no real understanding of the economic and political history of this country. Probably because the last time another economic illiterate from National said that the prospect of reducing unemployment in NZ to below 6% was “a hoax”, John Key wasn’t here. He probably heard it from that illiterate, who once again is our minister of finance. Unemployment under Labour was as low as 3.3%

NRT: Still 42,000 out of work under National

Written By: - Date published: 12:32 pm, May 7th, 2014 - 41 comments

No Right Turn points out that depressing fact that “Still 42,000 (more) out of work under National”. Tories don’t really care until they have to pay taxes for the debt. But hey they voted themselves a tax cut in 2008 – so they’re still happy as the government debt levels keep blowing out to Muldoon levels. National economic management = stupid debt.

Stepping up: new energy from Kelvin Davis

Written By: - Date published: 10:20 am, April 23rd, 2014 - 115 comments

Labour has swung positively behind the change from Jones to Kelvin Davis.  In his interview on TV3’s First Line this morning, Davis was confident, down-to-earth, & energetic. Hone Harawira & Davis are strong candidates for Te Tai Tokerau and those struggling on low incomes. Both would be assets for a Labour-led government.

Polity: Labour’s manufacturing plan

Written By: - Date published: 11:37 am, April 18th, 2014 - 10 comments

This is very good stuff. Having a tax break for R&D work has always been a no-brainer, and it is great to see it reconfirmed. Adding an accelerated depreciation scheme for new plant is a helpful addition. And partnering with more local firms for more locally-sourced government procurement makes perfect sense, too. Another no brainer for parties – like Labour – that actually care about local employment.

Closing the Gaps – Education & work

Written By: - Date published: 10:10 am, March 17th, 2014 - 8 comments

Simon Collins article on reducing inequalities for Māori & Pacific people. Māori and Pacific youth have become significantly disadvantaged in employment.  However, the article supports charter schools, without examining how such neoliberal intitatives are ultimately damaging for Māori & Pacific people.

LB: Government Spin and Hidden Secrets

Written By: - Date published: 4:24 pm, March 8th, 2014 - 34 comments

This National led Government has seriously mismanaged things and is desperate to hide the true effects of its governance over the last five years. I half suspect many of the retiring National MPs are jumping ship because they don’t want to be around when the proverbial hits the fan. National have carefully constructed showy facades that hide flimsy realities

How to build better beggars

Written By: - Date published: 9:00 am, March 1st, 2014 - 35 comments

In the United States, the street beggars have great patter. Despite what South Park would have us believe, when you walk down the main street of a major city, you don’t get hordes of people shiftlessly shaking cups at you, asking for “change?” There are a few.  But far more often, there’s a story.  I […]

Forestry families bringing their message to Parliament

Written By: - Date published: 7:42 pm, February 19th, 2014 - 7 comments

Readers of The Standard have read and engaged on the campaign for forestry safety. There is now a Review underway and we need to maintain the organising momentum to ensure change is made. On 28 April is International Workers Memorial Day and we have invited the families of all workers killed since 2008 (that we have […]

Polity: Key practices 56% truth inflation

Written By: - Date published: 3:48 pm, February 19th, 2014 - 21 comments

John Key makes up the figures during a session of parliament for the expected unemployment in coming years when he took office. The apparent reason is to make his governments piss-poor performance running the economy look better. Of course there is that problem that Rob Salmond can link to the December 2008 projections from the Treasury which show John Key to be lying (yet again).

Smirks & inversions

Written By: - Date published: 10:54 am, February 13th, 2014 - 42 comments

The Salvation Army’s latest State of the Nation Report is damning on child poverty & unaffordable housing.  The government is misrepresenting the conclusions, reversing the main focus on failings, and focusing on the positives: the spin is repeated in an NZ Herald editorial.

It’s past time for fair employment laws

Written By: - Date published: 1:53 pm, February 8th, 2014 - 35 comments

After David Cunliffe’s state of the nation speech at the end of January, the spotlight was, appropriately, on the big policy announcement he made: the Best Start package for Kiwi kids.  (It wasn’t the friendliest spotlight, unfortunately.) But there was a sentence at the end which hasn’t had a lot of pickup, and which could […]

National’s policy working – under-employment at record high

Written By: - Date published: 6:06 pm, February 4th, 2014 - 37 comments

Roy Morgan survey reports New Zealand under-employment – those working part-time but looking for more work – has jumped to a record high 11.3% (up 2.7%). Simon Bridges’ policies to create precarious employment seem to be working.

A matter of “confidence”

Written By: - Date published: 11:43 am, January 21st, 2014 - 41 comments

Bill English reviews the economy

Some say the economy often responds positively to “confidence”, while lack of it can result in some financial nose dives.  But whose confidence is being highlighted in reports of NZ’ “rock star” economy?  Not that of workers, beneficiaries – the precariat, say Labour, Greens.

UBI (2) Why should we push for a UBI? (Universal basic income).

Written By: - Date published: 3:37 pm, January 17th, 2014 - 27 comments

Why a UBI?

Firstly. To overturn some paradigms:
That a great many people should lead poor and constricted lives, so a very few can be rich.
That ordinary people are disposable economic production units.

Down among the women: limits of ‘growth’

Written By: - Date published: 11:22 am, January 14th, 2014 - 97 comments

The GDP measure fails to account for life sustaining activities outside paid employment.  Women do the majority of such unpaid work.  A gender blind approach to financial crises is socially and economically destructive.   An alternative, cooperative social and economic model would attend to gender and other diversities.